The work of curing the habits and damage of psychic self-destruction often requires much intelligent effort and persistence. It is quite possible to exhaust our meager capacity to overcome powerful resentments, discouragement, or fears. The bodyguards that protect all our current beliefs will tempt us to abandon our “foolish” aspirations. Pressures from friends and pop culture will lure us back into engaging in “normal”—that is, mundane—patterns of behavior.
Eventually, this struggle becomes one we can- not fight alone. We need support from beyond what we have in ourself. Very often, even well-meaning friends will have little more to offer than sympathy and reassurance as we grapple with our problems. While this can be helpful, it often is not enough to see us through the resolution of old conflicts, deep fears, or profound despair. We will need something more to sustain us in our long-term work of managing the damage and habits of psychic self-destruction.
This extra help is available to us automatically, but in very small doses unless we actively seek it—and will require a substantial expansion of our understanding of who we are in relation to the universe in which we live. We will need the skillful use of our imagination, hope, and patience to tap this support. Even then, we may miss the assistance that comes to us, because it can be so subtle that we may not realize it is there. This is because the source of this encouragement, guidance, power will come from the invisible forces about us.
This concept can seem absurd—perhaps annoying—to some. However, before rejecting it, it is useful to consider how we are already influenced by many invisible forces. Wherever we are, we are surrounded by radio and television signals. They are invisible to us, yet we can verify their existence with a radio or television set. When we go for an X-ray of our chest or a CAT scan, we benefit from invisible forces that subsequently appear on film and television screens.
There are many other forces that are invisible and unheard by us, yet they exist. For instance, many animals hear sounds that we do not hear and detect scents that we do not smell. Still, they exist. If we can accept that these invisible forces exist, even though we cannot consciously sense them, we should be able to appreciate that there are even more subtle forces we may not have imagined. These are the forces than can provide support and guidance for our personal effort to reverse our limiting beliefs, chronic anger, anxiety, or sadness. This does not require deep faith—only common sense and the willingness to explore better possibilities.
There is a simple example that can help us understand. Consider the modest amaryllis bulb. The lowly amaryllis bulb is something we can grasp in our hand. It is not especially attractive nor does it have any special scent or appeal. Yet it contains, in some mysterious way, the design and life to produce a beautiful flower in a few weeks if we provide water and soil for it to grow. Somehow, the bulb is able to harness the water and nutrition from soil and the life force about it to grow into a mature flower.
We, as individual human beings, are like that bulb. We arrive on earth with an internal pattern and design for a healthy body and personality. We too are supported by our environment, including certain forces that are invisible and unheard in our conscious minds. As the bulb is supported by water, our humanity is supported by encouragement to grow into a mature person. While the amaryllis draws nourishment from the soil in which it is planted, we draw nourishment from our family, friends, and culture to develop our character.
What we do not easily recognize are the more subtle forces that emanate from the deepest level of our humanity—our soul. Remember that the simple bulb contains a seed pattern that guides its eventual growth. The innate intelligence in the bulb oversees the transformation of the nutrients in the soil into a mature amaryllis with stem, leaves, and flower. If we cut into that original bulb, we will not find a tiny, almost microscopic blueprint or picture of the mature flower. The seed pattern is not a physical thing. It too has its residence and power in a realm that is invisible to our eyes.
We likewise have an invisible design for wholeness in our inner seed or soul. This exists in a realm invisible to our senses, yet contains the dynamic life and intelligence that can transform the food we eat into muscles and skin. And in a less direct way, we are able to use our life experiences to transform the message in these events into knowledge, skills, and various strengths we need to build a mature character and lifestyle.
We are a miracle of intelligent life that is created and sustained by many forces—often unrecognized and invisible to our senses.
While it is easy to grasp that we can transform the food we eat into new skin cells or hair, other varieties of transformation are even more subtle and abstract. We know, for instance, that all plant life grows toward the sun. Indeed, the light of the sun either directly or indirectly sustains all life on the planet—including ours. The physical sunlight energizes the process of photosynthesis enabling the plant to transform carbon dioxide and water into sugars and eventually other foodstuffs—the primordial fuels of all physical life.
The counterpart of this physical sunlight is the light of wisdom and love that emanates from a more subtle level. This Intelligence is not of our conscious making. We do not acquire it by reading or listening to lectures; it exists before we are born in the same invisible realm where the design for the mature bulb exists. It works automatically to guide plants and animals to maturity. Likewise, it also directs us to develop a mature, healthy physical body.
At this point of development, we differ from plants and animals. We must develop a sophisticated mind, a cheerful heart, and the skills that are necessary to become productive in the world. Up to a point, we can accomplish this through the guidance of our family, peers, and our local culture. To go beyond the average common denominator of habits and beliefs, however, we must engage our free will, creative intelligence, hope, and courage.
At this point, it becomes essential to consciously engage invisible forces. We need to access inner resources of wisdom, love, joy, self-control, courage, kindness, patience, and other strengths. To be successful, we must return to the deepest levels of our humanity—our soul—to find them. The light of wisdom and love has the power to inspire us to great things. Courage emanating from this level can support heroic achievement. When we need an extra reserve of patience and kindness to provide compas- sionate support to a loved one, this deep, invisible level is where it is found.
The evidence for all this surrounds us in various degrees—if we look for it! We need to reflect on the life of great geniuses who captured inspiration and strength to add to our scientific understanding. They saw possibilities that no one else had considered because they were responding to the invisible light of wisdom.
Other inspired people have added new beauty and grace to our cultures by great works of art, music, and literature. They were guided to write great poetry and works of fiction that still enrich us. Great artists have depicted the sublime aspects of nature to stimulate our awareness of the beauty and grace that abounds in our environment—for those with eyes to see. The great giants of philosophy and theology were led to elaborate the noble purpose inherent in the life of our human race, nations, and for individuals.
These examples demonstrate the reality of the enlightened but invisible forces of wisdom, love, and the power of purpose. They are available to all. The only difference between these great geniuses of creativity and ourself is the ability to attune to this realm. The capacity to register and receive from these levels is something that requires our skillful, conscious effort. Beyond the simple support that even an amaryllis bulb receives, we need to prepare our mind and heart to be open to more than the basic assistance.
Volumes have been written about the process of being better attuned to the life and wisdom of our soul. It is unnecessary to summarize any of this here. However, there are a few principles that merit some repetition. First of all, we need to demonstrate respect for our inner life and design for a healthy body and character. The innate intelligence in us has guided the development and maintenance of a healthy body our entire life. It has led us through the healing of all manner of minor and major illnesses. The very repair and maintenance of our organs that sustain our physical life and can transform a sandwich into new skin cells is just a minor sign that we benefit from this intelligent power.
We need to add to this insight our appreciation for being able to sustain many losses, tragedies, and challenges without being devastated. The low points of our life have been crises that have often brought out the best in us—the courage to endure and the wits to survive. These episodes should teach us that help is always available in times of need. As we come to appreciate the message in these experiences, we stimulate our ability to respond to higher forces that guide, empower, and comfort us.
If we can accept and respect these possibilities, they will eventually prove their existence and reliability to us. With this personal evidence of helpful, invisible forces, we can anticipate ever greater awareness and attunement to the core of our humanity and soul. Future developments will unfold as we continue to appreciate and accept guidance, love, and strength from this source.
Any sincere person, dedicated to doing what is right, will find this support automatically comes to them. They may fail to recognize it if they are distracted by intense disappointment or fear. The feeling of hopelessness can often block reception of this support, yet it is still there. Like the sounds we do not hear and the electromagnetic radio waves we do not see, these helpful forces continue to exist even when we ignore them.
Fortunately, our curiosity and imagination will reconnect us if we permit ourselves to keep exploring the higher dimensions of our humanity and spirit.